The story is long, and has a lot of chapters… I’ll have to fill you in little by little over the next several weeks (ok, maybe months) but I thought I would start with a short version of the story.

My husband Eric is a teacher and he’s been home with the kids and helping with Hollywood Homestead and The Gelatin Secret for the past 3+ years while I’ve been working full time as a celebrity personal assistant and running Hollywood Homestead and writing ebooks on evenings and weekends.

Needless to say, mama is tired! And the kids have forgotten what I look like. 🙂 Also, my crazy self imposed life was starting to affect my health and, in an effort to practice what I preach, it was time to do something about it.

So, the plan is for Eric to bring home the bacon (figuratively, since there’s no decent bacon in this country… for reals) for a couple years and I’ll continue Hollywood Homestead as usual and reacquaint myself with the little unschoolers while making a big effort not to forget to take care of myself in the process.

How’s the move going so far?

Well, it’s a bit like this: (it’s a long process!)

We’ve just moved into an apartment after a long stint of hotel living and are in the process of furnishing and all that… Still no internet at home (patience is the name of the game here) but I’m ready to get back to writing so will do my best with my internet café dates.

What’s the food like in Abu Dhabi?

The food has been surprisingly gluten free friendly (we lived here before, when all we ate was pasta, bread and pizza, so I was a tad concerned) and I’ve found the Kerrygold aisle so I think we’ll be just fine! 🙂 As for local food, after living in Southern California for a decade I’ve become quite spoiled with our amazing farmers markets. It’s not quite the same here and organic produce is expensive and few and far between but meat quality is more of a concern/priority for me and I’m stoked that I can get my hands on grass fed beef (even if it has to be shipped in from New Zealand) and I’m working my way around the various stores to locate everything we need and make it work.

It’s definitely spice heaven though…

And the dates are amazing as you can imagine…

It’s hotter than Hedes that’s for sure

But we try to make the best of that 🙂

I hope you’ve had an amazing summer. Can’t believe it’s already the middle of September!

Sylvie McCracken is a former celebrity assistant in Hollywood turned full time entrepreneur currently living in Ashland, Oregon with her husband and 3 kids. She writes about treating and preventing health conditions with real food and natural remedies, as well as anything else she feels like writing about because she's a rebel like that. 😉 She also mentors entrepreneurs on her other site, SylvieMcCracken.com

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25 Comments

Destiny WilliamsJun 14, 2015 @ 18:02:21

This is a great article! I look forward to reading more about over there. My husband should be moving to abu dhabi next month and the kids and I will be there three months after! I’m so excited and can’t wait for this new adventure but I’m a bit nervous too lol

I would love for you to do another post about eating Real Food in Abu Dhabi! My husband just found out we may be getting moved to Dubai….I’m so scared because both our kids are on the GAPS diet and I just don’t know how to do that over there!! Any tips would be SO appreciated (I know you don’t live in Dubai but I imagine it’s similar!)

Hi Lennexre,
Don’t panic! It’s getting better and better over here when it comes to food. If you do end up moving definitely reach out again and if I haven’t had a chance to do a post on it yet, I’ll give you a short list of where to get things. You’ll have an easier time in Dubai than I do in Al Ain (smallish city within Abu Dhabi) 🙂
Hope that helps!
Sylvie

Nicole,
Glad it helped. Will think about the travel tips and maybe make that a separate post since we travel quite a bit when living over here… Although we usually airbnb it and do the occasional restaurant meal because feeding 5 people is no joke on the budget.

I feel you on the internet. It’s had me in tears and considering murder and suicide (NSA: I’m kidding for Pete’s sake!)

So, yeah in UAE (no clue about Morocco) it won’t be as fast or reliable as you’re used to, and I’m paying more than I’m used to as well. Same with cell. Right now I’m at a cafe which has crappy internet so I’m using a hotspot on my phone that I pay an absurd amount for but for me internet is like running water in that I can’t live without it.

What helps is getting things as much offline as I can. So I use dropbox and have it sync overnight, pay for the premium version of things like evernote so I can use offline and not have syncing issues. Take spotify offline.. that kind of thing.

I try to see the internet cutting out as an opportunity to go pee and have a glass of water which is working much better than my previous idea of yelling at the computer until it came back on 🙂

In terms of shipping, I have gotten everything. This time around it’s been really easy. When I lived here years ago one time a package took 6 months to arrive. I thought it was lost and sure enough it eventually arrived when my baby was too big to wear anything that came in the box. Lol.

I do insure, for the fun of it. My biggest advice on the shipping specific to UAE is to respect that $270 goods limit. My last package was $277 and I had to pay around $50 extra for customs (Since they count the whole thing as opposed to the $7). And also, things like nail polish, perfume anything like that will be extra to forward on since the forwarder will tack on a $10-20 handling fee. File that under random but I just learned that one when I ordered non toxic nail polish for my girls for xmas and a non toxic “perfume”.

Hollywood Homestead THANKS! This is amazing and super reassuring 🙂 Not that any of these things would totally make or break my decision, but that’s totally awesome that all these things are still a possibility. GOD LOVE THE INTERNET.

I would definitely love to read a blog post about this type of info and I’m sure others would too! Honestly – If you and I are any indication, I think a good number of people are considering a move or at least a trips to more exotic locations, as these types of things are becoming easier and more accessible to us.

I would also love to know what you do for travel, eating out and other self care and nutrition info while staying paleo, clean and managing certain health issues.

When I was in Morocco last- we ate at of a lot of hotels, but like the ONE time we ate from a butcher on the side of the road (meat hanging in the hot sun no less… our bad…) we got sick. But my next trip, I probably won’t be staying at hotels and will be eating more authentically, so I’d love to hear if you have any thoughts on eating situations. I know it can totally differ and depend on the restaurant and location, I’m wondering if you have any insider knowledge. I brought oregano oil, food bars and sardines, but I’m looking to simplify, simplify, simplify. I think I might just bring a big tub of whey protein and a jar of coconut oil for emergency situations. It would get the job done….

Okay – two more questions:

INTERNET?! It’s like a normal thing to have internet in your house, right?! I feel like maybe thats a ridiculous question, but my friends doesn’t have internet in their house and the cell service they get there is horrible. Basically if I have internet, I’m set for LYFE, so was yours relatively easy to set up? Is it insanely expensive?

And then in terms of shipping, do you find you actually GET all your shipments? Do you insure your packages? How reliable is the post/parcel service over there?

Thanks again for your input..gunna save this comment for when the time comes!! You’re the best!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Hey Nicole!
I thought about writing a blog post about it and then I was like… who the heck is gonna care? Lol. But I guess some people do 🙂

For UAE this is what’s been working for me…

For ordering foodstuff that I can’t get locally, iherb has relatively cheap and fast shipping which has been a total lifesaver ($10 off your first order if you use my referral link: http://www.iherb.com?rcode=TEZ902)

What I can’t get there and I can get on Amazon, I have an account with a forwarding service which forwards it to me but shipping is not exactly cheap and the price of goods needs to stay under $270 to avoid customs craziness.

As far as nutrition testing, so far I can get about 75% of the bloodwork I want locally and for pennies. But something like a Spectracell (miconutrient) test I haven’t figured out an alternative to.

Urine, stool and breath tests I can get shipped internationally. Fedexing internationally does get expensive but I’m just super grateful it’s a possibility.

So, the bottom line is you can get just about anything you want, it’s just gonna cost you. Of course, I’m not sure how Morocco might differ.

For the UAE there are restrictions on certain prescription drugs (from what I understand antidressants, anphetamines etc) but with the right paperwork and permissions people that require them can attain them.

And also, unrelated but in case anyone reading is interested, pork products I’ve never ordered and I don’t think it’s allowed. There are a few dedicated shops here where you can buy pork and alcohol if you’re not muslim but the quality of the pork has made it mostly not worth my while. (Translation: I am bacon deficient, and this is most definitely a tragedy).

Hope that helps and let me know if any other q’s cause you’ve inspired me to get this post up even if only 3 peeps read it 🙂

Sylvie – I’m wondering what things are like in terms of ordering nutritional testing and online supplements (and buying internet?!) is like over there. I’m dreaming of moving to Morocco and also thinking about getting my NTP and starting some online stuff. Basically….can you order things from amazon? And nutrition testing? (I’m sure it depends) What’s the shipping like over there? I imagine things are different in Morocco and it all depends on the situation/access, but I’d love to know your experience. <3

Hey Nicole!
I thought about writing a blog post about it and then I was like… who the heck is gonna care? Lol. But I guess some people do 🙂

For UAE this is what’s been working for me…

For ordering foodstuff that I can’t get locally, iherb has relatively cheap and fast shipping which has been a total lifesaver ($10 off your first order if you use my referral link: http://www.iherb.com?rcode=TEZ902)

What I can’t get there and I can get on Amazon, I have an account with a forwarding service which forwards it to me but shipping is not exactly cheap and the price of goods needs to stay under $270 to avoid customs craziness.

As far as nutrition testing, so far I can get about 75% of the bloodwork I want locally and for pennies. But something like a Spectracell (miconutrient) test I haven’t figured out an alternative to.

Urine, stool and breath tests I can get shipped internationally. Fedexing internationally does get expensive but I’m just super grateful it’s a possibility.

So, the bottom line is you can get just about anything you want, it’s just gonna cost you. Of course, I’m not sure how Morocco might differ.

For the UAE there are restrictions on certain prescription drugs (from what I understand antidressants, anphetamines etc) but with the right paperwork and permissions people that require them can attain them.

And also, unrelated but in case anyone reading is interested, pork products I’ve never ordered and I don’t think it’s allowed. There are a few dedicated shops here where you can buy pork and alcohol if you’re not muslim but the quality of the pork has made it mostly not worth my while. (Translation: I am bacon deficient, and this is most definitely a tragedy).

Hope that helps and let me know if any other q’s cause you’ve inspired me to get this post up even if only 3 peeps read it 🙂

Hollywood Homestead THANKS! This is amazing and super reassuring 🙂 Not that any of these things would totally make or break my decision, but that’s totally awesome that all these things are still a possibility. GOD LOVE THE INTERNET.

I would definitely love to read a blog post about this type of info and I’m sure others would too! Honestly – If you and I are any indication, I think a good number of people are considering a move or at least a trips to more exotic locations, as these types of things are becoming easier and more accessible to us.

I would also love to know what you do for travel, eating out and other self care and nutrition info while staying paleo, clean and managing certain health issues.

When I was in Morocco last- we ate at of a lot of hotels, but like the ONE time we ate from a butcher on the side of the road (meat hanging in the hot sun no less… our bad…) we got sick. But my next trip, I probably won’t be staying at hotels and will be eating more authentically, so I’d love to hear if you have any thoughts on eating situations. I know it can totally differ and depend on the restaurant and location, I’m wondering if you have any insider knowledge. I brought oregano oil, food bars and sardines, but I’m looking to simplify, simplify, simplify. I think I might just bring a big tub of whey protein and a jar of coconut oil for emergency situations. It would get the job done….

Okay – two more questions:

INTERNET?! It’s like a normal thing to have internet in your house, right?! I feel like maybe thats a ridiculous question, but my friends doesn’t have internet in their house and the cell service they get there is horrible. Basically if I have internet, I’m set for LYFE, so was yours relatively easy to set up? Is it insanely expensive?

And then in terms of shipping, do you find you actually GET all your shipments? Do you insure your packages? How reliable is the post/parcel service over there?

Thanks again for your input..gunna save this comment for when the time comes!! You’re the best!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Nicole,
Glad it helped. Will think about the travel tips and maybe make that a separate post since we travel quite a bit when living over here… Although we usually airbnb it and do the occasional restaurant meal because feeding 5 people is no joke on the budget.

I feel you on the internet. It’s had me in tears and considering murder and suicide (NSA: I’m kidding for Pete’s sake!)

So, yeah in UAE (no clue about Morocco) it won’t be as fast or reliable as you’re used to, and I’m paying more than I’m used to as well. Same with cell. Right now I’m at a cafe which has crappy internet so I’m using a hotspot on my phone that I pay an absurd amount for but for me internet is like running water in that I can’t live without it.

What helps is getting things as much offline as I can. So I use dropbox and have it sync overnight, pay for the premium version of things like evernote so I can use offline and not have syncing issues. Take spotify offline.. that kind of thing.

I try to see the internet cutting out as an opportunity to go pee and have a glass of water which is working much better than my previous idea of yelling at the computer until it came back on 🙂

In terms of shipping, I have gotten everything. This time around it’s been really easy. When I lived here years ago one time a package took 6 months to arrive. I thought it was lost and sure enough it eventually arrived when my baby was too big to wear anything that came in the box. Lol.

I do insure, for the fun of it. My biggest advice on the shipping specific to UAE is to respect that $270 goods limit. My last package was $277 and I had to pay around $50 extra for customs (Since they count the whole thing as opposed to the $7). And also, things like nail polish, perfume anything like that will be extra to forward on since the forwarder will tack on a $10-20 handling fee. File that under random but I just learned that one when I ordered non toxic nail polish for my girls for xmas and a non toxic “perfume”.

Hey, you should try shopping at the open air markets. Can’t remember the names unfortunately but I do remember finding some excellent quality produce over there, and for much cheaper than Carrefour. Wish you guys the best 😉

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My cheat sheet will tell you exactly what to eat and what to avoid.
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